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Advice needed: Tipping servers at catered event

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  • #1

    Advice needed: Tipping servers at catered event

    I am chairing a banquet for an organization that we support, and need advice on tipping the servers the caterer will be providing. What is the correct amount? I certainly can't tip them 20% like I would for a waiter at a restaurant (we are talking about a final bill that is over $10,000; even split amongst them it would still be an insane amount and would almost equal what we are paying in labor alone). How do I determine this?
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  • #2
    Quoth justhere View Post
    I am chairing a banquet for an organization that we support, and need advice on tipping the servers the caterer will be providing. What is the correct amount? I certainly can't tip them 20% like I would for a waiter at a restaurant (we are talking about a final bill that is over $10,000; even split amongst them it would still be an insane amount and would almost equal what we are paying in labor alone). How do I determine this?
    Are you sure the gratuity hasn't been figured into the total they quoted you? I thought that was kind of standard practice when serving large groups.
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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    • #3
      To be honest, I'm not sure. If it is, how is it different than their normal pay? I never understood that.

      And I hope I'm not causing an issue by asking about tipping - I know it is a touchy subject on some boards, but this board seems to be the best place for me to go to make sure that I am not inadvertently a bad customer.

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      • #4
        Honestly, I would just ask them. I've done that before in a similar situation. I'd even bet they get asked all the time. Around here, the labor includes gratuity.

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        • #5
          Quoth Slayer View Post
          Honestly, I would just ask them. I've done that before in a similar situation. I'd even bet they get asked all the time. Around here, the labor includes gratuity.
          Good point. I will do that.

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          • #6
            Since you asked ^_^ No worries.

            Threads/posts like this are fine -- e.g. tipping etiquette, how much to tip, and the like. Threads/posts where people talk about stuff like "should people tip at all" or complaints about autograt (automatic tips figured in by the restaurant or caterer) are not. Those go on Fratching.com, our sister site, which was set up for just that sort of thing
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            • #7
              I would ask to see an itemized bill for the event (usually called a BEO-banquet event order).
              Gratuity(if applied)should be on that BEO. Most event centers will split that between the staff members working the event.

              Currently, gratuity for banquets is between 15-20% of food cost.

              Hope your event goes well.
              What do you want for nothin'? R-r-r-r-r-r-rubber biscuit?": Blues Bros.

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              • #8
                Since I did get advice here, I thought I'd follow-up.

                We looked over the bill carefully and did not see any autograt, so we decided to tip them based on a percentage of the food (it wasn't as generous as I'd have liked, but it wasn't my money). I had the tips ready in envelopes; and at the end of the evening while I was busy taking care of some other details, they all left and I didn't know. I was semi-surprised, since I thought for sure the catering manager would at least say goodnight, but the weather wasn't great, so I guess they were eager to get home.

                Otherwise, it all went well! The food was good, we had some technical difficulties with our AV and one speaker went over their allotted 10 minutes by 10 minutes but otherwise it was good.

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